News Releases

January 03, 2005

UN LAUNCHES INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF MICROCREDIT 2005

Microentrepreneurs Ring in Year by Opening Stock Exchanges around World

NEW YORK, (UN Department of Public Information)
The United Nations launches the International
Year of Microcredit today in an effort to build
support for making financial services more
accessible to poor and low-income people. It
will aim to raise public awareness about
microcredit and microfinance, and promote
innovative partnerships among governments,
donors, international organizations, non-
governmental organizations, the private sector,
academia and microfinance clients.

The Year's overarching goal is to provide
greater
access to credit, savings, insurance, transfer
remittances and other financial services for poor
and low-income households in order to move
towards more secure livelihoods and prosperous
futures.

Launch observances are beginning the day
with
the ringing of opening bells at stock exchanges
around the world by microentrepreneurs from
Cambodia, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia,
Mexico, Rwanda and the United States. The
participants are all recipients of the Global
Microentrepreneur Awards coordinated by
HarvardBusinessSchool and other graduate
schools. In New York, local Microentrepreneur
Award winners are scheduled to open the NASDAQ
market, while nine exchanges from Karachi to
Zurich and from Manila to Maputo are also taking
part in this coordinated initiative.

"Stock exchanges play an essential role in
efficiently allocating capital in national
economies and globally", said Stanley Fischer,
Vice Chair of Citigroup and Chair of the Advisors
Group for the International Year of Microcredit
2005. "Today, the world's stock markets are
focusing on the people to whom this Year is
dedicated: microfinance clients."

At opening celebrations at United Nations
Headquarters in New York and elsewhere throughout
the world, experts will address the challenge of
expanding the reach of microfinance by
identifying best practices and the hurdles to
wider availability.

"The world has set an ambitious course to
meet
the Millennium Development Goal of cutting in
half, by 2015, the proportion of people living on
less than one dollar a day. Microfinance is a
powerful tool to help us get there", said Mark
Malloch Brown, Administrator of the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Although microcredit and microfinance have
already had a positive impact on the household
income and quality of life of millions of poor
people, many still lack access to financial
services that could raise their standard of
living and protect them against economic
setbacks. Billions of people could benefit from
financial services, although today only a tiny
fraction of this demand is being met. To meet
this huge gap in services, the Year calls for
constructing inclusive financial sectors that
strengthen the powerful, but often untapped,
entrepreneurial spirit that exists all over the
world.

"By viewing poor people as vital
contributors
to their local and national economies, the
International Year of Microcredit 2005 has the
potential to unleash a new wave of
microentrepreneurship, giving poor and low-income
people a chance to build better lives", said José
Antonio Ocampo, Under-Secretary-General of the
United Nations Department of Economic and Social
Affairs.

Another primary aim of the Year is to
increase
public awareness about the reliability of
microfinance clients, especially women, in
repaying loans, managing household incomes,
building assets and enterprises and contributing
to the economy.

One key need is to collect and analyse hard
data on the state of microfinance: its
availability by region, client profiles, and
types and quantities of services offered. As
part of the Year's activities, a Data Project
will bring together expert statisticians and
researchers from the Bretton Woods institutions
and the United Nations, in collaboration with
governments and the private sector, to address
current data gaps, anticipate future needs, and
build agreement on the best way forward for
donors, private investors and
practitioners.

In addition, the "Blue Book" project will
seek
to identify constraints and opportunities for the
promotion of inclusive financial sectors,
culminating in recommendations of concrete
actions that countries can take to make
microfinance an integral part of national
financial systems.

The United Nations General Assembly has
designated the United Nations Capital Development
Fund (UNCDF) and the United Nations Department of
Economic and Social Affairs as focal points to
coordinate the activities of the United Nations
system for the International Year of Microcredit
2005.

World Council of Credit Unions is the global trade association and development agency for credit unions. World Council promotes the sustainable development of credit unions and other financial cooperatives around the world to empower people through access to high quality and affordable financial services. World Council advocates on behalf of the global credit union system before international organizations and works with national governments to improve legislation and regulation. Its technical assistance programs introduce new tools and technologies to strengthen credit unions' financial performance and increase their outreach.

World Council has implemented more than 290 technical assistance programs in 71 countries. Worldwide, 57,000 credit unions in 105 countries serve 217 million people. Learn more about World Council's impact around the world at www.woccu.org.